Thousands of people have been kept on the edge of their seats by the hundreds of actors who have trodden the boards at Theatre Royal Stratford East over the years.

And now the beloved theatre is to give its beautiful Grade II listed auditorium a major £213,000 makeover to freshen it up for future generations.

The theatre was built in 1884 by James George Buckle and first refurbished in 1902 by Frank Matcham.

The last auditorium refurbishment was carried out more than 20 years ago and work is needed to make it more comfortable and hard-wearing.

The project, which will run until August, includes the replacement of all seating, carpeting, lampshades and curtains; replastering and repainting the proscenium arch, circle frontages, boxes and auditorium walls; re-stepping the upper circle and replacing the handrails; replacing bench seating with individual seats; floor repairs to the stalls, Jean Brown dress circle and upper circle and restoring the antique chandelier, all funded by a £208,000 grant from Arts Council England.

A further £5,000 has been given to the venue by The Theatres Trust for the restoration of the trompe l’oeil safety curtain.

Artistic director of the theatre Kerry Michael says: “We have a beautiful Grade II listed auditorium that is well used and requires a lot of maintenance. These works mean that we will be able to meet our audiences’ expectations of comfort and quality for years to come. “We will be installing brand new seating and carpeting throughout the auditorium, as well as the re-stepping of our upper circle. During this period we will continue to have performances in different formats while our auditorium is getting a new lease of life.

“We’re looking forward to unveiling our refreshed auditorium in early September with our autumn season which we’ll be announcing shortly.”

Further funding is needed to complete the total refurbishment of the auditorium and anyone wishing to lend their support can find more information at stratfordeast.com/support-us